UNH Signs Agreement to Open First International Campus in Prato, Italy

Release Date:

7/20/2012 4:49 PM

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NH Signs Agreement with Italian Officials To Open Its First International Satellite Campus in Tuscany, Italy

Prato, Italy

July 20, 2012

PRATO, ITALY – University of New Haven President Steven H. Kaplan signed an agreement with officials from the Province of Prato, Italy, on Friday, July 20, at 10:30 a.m. (Italian time) in advance of opening the university’s first international satellite campus in the fall. The campus will be located in Prato, the second largest city in Tuscany, and only 20 minutes by train from Florence.

“This is an exciting day for the university and the beginning of a program that will provide tremendous value for our students,” said President Kaplan. “The students will be able to immerse themselves in the history, art and language of Italy, one of the richest cultures in the world, while they continue their college education.”

The agreement will be signed by Kaplan and Lamberto Gestri, president of the Province of Prato. The signing ceremony will take place in Palazzo Vestri in Prato’s Cathedral Square, where the new campus is located.

The UNH Tuscany Campus will be administered entirely by the university and will be situated on the historic town square in a beautiful, old villa. It will feature several large smart classrooms, a student study lounge and a number of faculty and administrative offices.

“The new campus will allow UNH students an extraordinary opportunity to study another culture and language in a beautiful, historic setting amid Romanesque and Gothic buildings of Albanese stone and rich green marble,” said Kaplan. “Since Prato is not a tourist city, students will have an opportunity to really experience life as the Italians do. This campus will greatly enhance UNH’s experiential education offerings.”

UNH plans to enroll approximately 35 students this fall and 60 students in the spring of 2013 at the campus. Students will take a standard five-course load, including an Italian language course, typically two or three courses taught by a UNH professor on-site, and the balance from local faculty hired by the Tuscany campus director, Kevin Murphy. Essential courses not available in Prato may be taken online.

Prato has been a capital of the thriving Italian wool textile trade for nearly 500 years and is home to a textiles museum, a modern art museum and a range of historical buildings including a castle built by Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the 13th century.

UNH will lease an entire floor of a magnificent old palace on the picturesque town square, which also includes a cathedral, cafés, a bookstore and municipal buildings. Meals will be provided by cafés surrounding the campus, and students will have several apartment and hotel-style housing options available within walking distance.

The University of New Haven is a private, top-tier comprehensive institution recognized as a national leader in experiential education. Founded in 1920 on the campus of Yale University in cooperation with Northeastern University, UNH moved to its current West Haven campus in 1960. The University provides its students with a unique combination of a solid liberal arts education and real-world, hands-on career and research opportunities. UNH enrolls approximately 6,400 students, including nearly 1,800 graduate students and more than 4,600 undergraduates – the majority of whom reside in University housing. Through its College of Arts and Sciences, College of Business, Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences, Tagliatela College of Engineering, and College of Lifelong & eLearning, UNH offers 75 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. UNH students have access to more than 50 study abroad programs worldwide and its student-athletes compete in 16 varsity sports in the NCAA Division II’s highly competitive Northeast-10 Conference.